Who Are the Sons & Daughters of Liberty?

Beginnings of the Movement

• In March 1765, the British government enacted the Stamp Act. This act, the first to directly affect the newly established American colonies, created a tax on all printed materials, such as playing cards, pamphlets, almanacs and newspapers, to pay some costs of having British military posts in America. Colonists felt outraged by this new tax, particularly individuals who were most affected by it -- such as merchants, publishers and lawyers. From there, the British government enacted other laws, including the Quartering Act, which required colonists to provide food and shelter to British troops. Fed up with British imposition on American colonial affairs, a group of men formed the Sons of Liberty in July 1765.
  
  

Daughters of Liberty

• Men weren't the only ones incensed by the British government. Around the same time as the men came together to protest the British government, a secret group of women banded together as well. These women, who called themselves the Daughters of Liberty to promote affinity with the male group, rallied to make their voices heard by the British government. They proposed a boycott of all British goods to cut off the British from profiting from the colonies. Instead of purchasing British textiles, for instance, the Daughters spun their own substitutes. Their boycott, as well as membership in both the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, spread around the colonies among those unhappy with British rule.
  
  

Actions of the Group

• While the Daughters of Liberty handled their frustration in a peaceful way, the Sons of Liberty were prone to causing chaos and anarchy as their means of rebellion. The members of the group often created effigies of unpopular British figures and hanged them to burn. Some members threatened British military located in the colonies with violence, while others carried out these violent acts. Many tax collectors, according to the website U.S. History, fled town because of intimidation and threats from group members. Their most well-known act of anarchy involved tarring and feathering unfavorable parties. The Sons of Liberty would douse the person with warm tar, then toss feathers at him. Their acts of rebellion continued for years within numerous colonies.
  
  

Boston Tea Party

• Their actions culminated in their most notable act of antigovernment rebellion. On May 10, 1773, the British government established the Tea Act, which colonists felt benefited the British East India Company rather than colonists. The act created a threepenny per pound import tax on all tea brought into the colonies. Unhappy with this, the Sons of Liberty formulated a plan. On Dec. 16, Boston Sons of Liberty crept to the harbor disguised as Native Americans. They boarded the British cargo ships and dumped 342 containers of tea into the water to protest the tax.